Dental esthetics is an ever-growing field among all disciplines in dentistry, designed to improve esthetic appearance of a patient's teeth. Aesthetic dentistry refers, among others, to treatment of teeth that are discolored, chipped, misshaped, or missing. Cosmetic treatment can reshape teeth, close gaps, restore worn or short teeth, and even change the length of teeth. An aesthetic restoration in many cases is carried out for cosmetic reasons only, though in some cases may also have functional aspects, e.g. in case of corrective dentistry.
Cosmetic dental techniques have advanced dramatically over the last decade. The quality of materials like porcelains and composite resins has improved, giving a more life-like appearance. This however requires also special treatment and care at the practitioners end during preparation of the dental restoration article prior to and while applying same to the individual's teeth.
US Patent Application 20070141530 to Neil John Graham is directed to a device for vacuum holding a dental veneer during the trial placement of a veneer on a tooth, application of adhesive to the veneer and final placement of the veneer on the tooth. The device includes a flexible suction cup with a connecting air bulb. The cup is placed on the external surface of the veneer while squeezing the air bulb. The veneer is held on the cup until the air bulb is squeezed. The instrument allows for multiple veneers to be simultaneously coated and placed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,182,820 to Rathbauer John discloses a holder for dental implants namely dental veneers. The holder has a bottom tray and a top cover both opaque. The top cover has a recessed portion that is designed to receive a foam sheet. The foam sheet is designed to cover the top cover so that it blocks light from entering the closed holder. The bottom tray has recessed wells that are designed to receive dental veneers. When the cover is closed over the tray, the light is blocked out so that light-sensitive resin placed upon the dental veneers does not harden before the dental veneers are placed upon the patient's teeth.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,090,073 to Barnes is concerned with a dental tray assembly for storage of oral prosthetics includes a base and a cover, associated with the base and being configured to be alternately positioned relative to the base in a first, closed position, and a second, open position. A biasing element interconnects the base and the cover to provide a biasing force between the cover and the base, the biasing force varying with position of the cover relative to the base to provide an attractive force between the cover and the base when the cover is in the first, closed position, and a repellant force between the cover and the base when the cover is in the second, open position. A storage tray is nestable within the base, the storage tray including at least two compartments, each compartment being configured to receive and store an oral prosthetic therein.